Shaping Identity under the Biafran War: A Post-Colonial Analysis of Chimamanda

Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun

By Luise Ndapanda Shikongo

Abstract

Several African countries have been susceptible to colonialism and its effects on their
livelihoods. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi sets the scene for a long
battle well known as the Biafran civil war between the Igbo tribe and its counterpart, the
Hausa tribe. For two years, both ethnic tribes fought for leadership and dominance, land and
its accompanying resources. This ensued into poverty, diaspora, loss of identity, identity
reformation, and the deaths of countless Civilians and soldiers.

This paper is an attempt to analyse Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s, Half of a Yellow Sun
using the post-colonial theory. The study attempts to address the following: the context of the
Biafran war, the causes of the Biafran Civil war, how the identity of the Igbo tribe was
shaped under the Biafran civil war, specifically, reviewing the lived experiences of major
characters within the mentioned novel, namely, Olanna, Richard and Ugwu. This study
found that the identity of all three characters under preview has been shaped during the
Biafran war and as a result, they have emerged from the war well rooted in their culture.

Keywords: Post-colonial theory, Identity, Half of a Yellow

Contents
1.1 Background of the Study...........................................................................................................1
1.2 Context-Nigerian Biafran Civil War........................................................................................2
1.3 Causes of the Biafran Civil War..............................................................................................2
2. Literature Review.......................................................................................................................3
2.1 Theoretical Framework: Post Colonialism..............................................................................3
2.2 Shaping the Biafran (Igbo) Identity..............................................................................................3
2.3 Analysis in Half of a Yellow Sun..............................................................................................4
2.3.1 Shaping the Identity: Olanna....................................................................................................4
2.3.2 Shaping the Identity: Ugwu................................................................................................6
2.3.3 Shaping the Identity: Richard.............................................................................................7
3. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................8
4. References.................................................................................................................................9

2.2
Achebe (1992) states that the Igbo people in his location, never perceived themselves as Igbo.
……...however, after encountering the Biafran War for a two-year period, their identity became
deeply rooted and a vivid awareness. For that reason, individuals have the capacity to become
consciously aware of their identity, which they have been oblivious to or ignored for an extensive
period without knowing.

1.1 Background of the Study

Colonialism had a profound impact on nations due to the colonizers’ ability to demolish boarders
and form new borders with different ethnic groups. Under the British rule, Nigeria became victim to
this practice, comprised of approximately 300 linguistics groups creating confusion and tension that
led to the Biafran civil war after the departure of British colonisers. The postcolonial theory is best
suitable in analyzing Half of a Yellow Sun since the novel is a representation of life after the British
colonial rule. Likewise, the novel portrays the effects of laws implemented, yet not set by the
natives, abuse of power depicted through the daily operations of the country, behavior of politicians
and formalities at the time in Nigeria. The novel depicts internal conflicts and power struggles which
has risen out of experiences and contact with the British rule (Mullaney, 2010). Through the novel, a
reader learns about the colonizers (The Hausa tribe) and the colonized (the Igbo) tribe and how the
latter was considered undeveloped, uncivilized and uneducated, defined as less superior (O’Reilly,
2001).

Based on Edward Said’s Orientalism, the characters in the novel are in pursuit of their identity which
has been destroyed by the Us (Europeans, Hausa Tribe), resulting in countless deaths. “Identity is
not something that is stable; it calls for permanent re-structuration. That is, someone’s identity is
shaped by the world that surrounds him or her and collectivities as well as personal choices and
personal experiences” (Karambiri, 2002, p.1). For that reason, Chinua Achebe also states that the
Biafran war shaped the Igbo society, his statement correlates to Chimamanda Adichie’s statement as
she supports her venture to write Half of a Yellow Sun: she states, writing about the Biafran war is a
tool for Modern Nigeria to understand the Igbo culture and identity (Adichie, 2008 as cited in
Strehle, 2011)

This paper is an analysis of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun using the post-colonial
theory. The study attempts to address the following: the context of the Biafran war, the causes of
the Biafran Civil war, it further aims to discuss how the identity of the Igbo was shaped under the
Biafran civil war, specifically, reviewing the lived experiences of major characters within the
mentioned novel, namely, Olanna, Richard and Ugwu to achieve this aim.

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1.2 Context-Nigerian Biafran Civil War

Half of a Yellow Sun is set in an independent Nigeria, which represents the early years after the end
of the civil war known as Nigeria-Biafra War which occured from 1967 to 1970. In January 1966, a
military coup conquered the ruling government, at the time under the leadership of Prime Minister
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. This led to an intense war when General Yakubu Gowon became the new
Head of State causing the massacre and diaspora of several Igbo civilians (Lecznar, 2017). On 30 May
1967, the Eastern Igbo tribe while led by Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu-Ojukwu, separated from
the Republic of Nigeria forming a state known as the Republic of Biafra. After the separation,
General Yakubu Gowon vowed to withdraw his army but immediately dishonored his promise when
he fired unforeseen gunshots into the Biafran territory on 6 July 1967. This war caused immense
poverty, diaspora, identity loss, identity reformation, and the deaths of several Biafran Civilians and
soldiers (Lecznar, 2017).

1.3 Causes of the Biafran Civil War

The primary source of civil war in African society is the theme of identity which was intensified by
tribal hatred and the instability of multi-ethnic African States. The Biafran Civil war was a product of
British colonialism: the objective of colonialist was often to divide and conquer; this was done by
creating states that were a combination of several ethnic groups often resulting in civil war due to
greed for political power amongst these groups (Roshan, 2014).

The British government left Nigeria by giving up their power back to Nigeria’s elite group, controlled
by the north, however, it seemed before they left, they vividly preferred the Hausa people, referred
to as the northern tribe. Ugwu, a character in the novel, refers to this by saying, “the British
preferred the North. The heat there was pleasantly dry; the Hausa-Fulani were narrow-featured and
therefore superior to the negroid Southerners and Muslim. . .. The humid South, on the other hand,
was full of mosquitoes, animists, and disparate tribes” (Adichie, 2006, p.115). As such, the Hausa
perceived themselves superior to the other tribes particularly the Igbo. The Igbo were above all
vulnerable to the unforeseen war due to their small population yet educated status, trade and
wealth accumulation due to the oil on their land which was available on the global trade markets
(Strehle, 2011). This was supported by Dan Jacobs, who served as Executive Director for the
Committee for Nigeria-Biafra Relief, he asserts, they yearned for land that belonged to the Ibos and
whatever could be found underneath it- without the Ibos (Cronje, 1972).

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The Biafran civil war was also a product of unfamiliar commercial policies, set governance structure,
unfamiliar laws and colonialism from the British rule. Adichie (2006) states, “these policies
manipulated the differences between the tribes and ensured that unity would not exist, thereby
making the easy governance of such a large country practicable" (p. 166).

2. Literature Review

Veal (2006) states that “studying the literature is to some extent a theoretical expression denoting
to the development of finding and analysing with formerly published research on the subject of
interest. This section reviews literature on how identity was shaped under the Biafran war for the
Igbo people, specifically the three major characters: Olanna, Ugwu and Richard.

2.1 Theoretical Framework: Post Colonialism

Post-colonial literary movement is a study which commenced after the Second World War. In
Nigeria, post-colonial literature is fictitious that is printed through colonialism or after a country
gains independence (Muhammad, 2018). Edward Said is a Post-colonial literary theorist and writer of
the book-Orientalism, published in 1978. He defines Orientalism as “a western conception about the
eastern part of the world: a radical idea of realism whose assembly endorsed the variance between
the accustomed (Europe, West, US) and the odd” (Muhammad, 2018, p. 62). As such, colonialism is
an influential tool which portrays the variations between Europeans and non-Europeans.

The concept of Orientalism labels the colonizers often considered their culture, values and ways of
doing things as civilized. They perceived themselves as superior, this belief influenced them to
perceive the natives as savage or undeveloped. Additionally, “colonizers reasoned that they formed
examples for the colonial people, often changing education systems, religions and laws to fit theirs,
and therefore perceiving the victims as mediocre and lesser to the extent of being beneath human”
(Tyson, 2006 as cited in Güven, 2013, p.80). As such, Post-colonial theory discourse helps the
colonized to understand their origin, including their identity.

2.2 Shaping the Biafran (Igbo) Identity

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Identity unites and differentiates persons in a society; it is non-constant and requires realignment.
Therefore, a person’s identity is formed by his or her spatial horizons, decisions and experiences
(Lecznar, 2017)

The Igbo tribe were unaware of their identity until they were aware of the difference between
themselves and the white man. Hence before colonialism, there was no struggle for identity neither
the discussion of it as it was never challenged, altered or considered inferior the white men. Adichie
highlights this notion in the book- Half of a Yellow Sun in a dialogue between the faculty members of
the University of Nsukka: "My point is that the only authentic identity for the African is the tribe,"
Master said. "I am Nigerian because a white man created Nigeria and gave me that identity. I am
black because the white man constructed black to be as different as possible from his white. But I
was Igbo before the white man came." Professor Ezeka snorted and shook his head, thin legs
crossed. "But you became aware that you were Igbo because of the white man. The pan-Igbo idea
itself came only in the face of white domination. You must see that tribe as it is today is as colonial a
product as nation and race." (Adichie, 2006, p.20)

Adichie displays three characters in the novel, Olanna, Ugwu and Richard. In one way or another, the
identity of all characters has been questioned due to the experiences of the war, diaspora and their
interaction with other members of the Igbo tribe. Olanna grew up and obtained her education in
England, therefore, she struggles to understand and at times comply with traditional beliefs and
practices. As for Ugwu, despite growing up in the village where traditional practices surpass any
other practices, he is unaware of his identity as an Igbo. Richard is perceived as a stranger to the
Nigerian community as he is British, having migrated to the country after he fails to find his identity
within his native country. Therefore, the experience of the war inevitably establishes a sense of
identity as Biafran for Ugwu and Olanna but for Richard, it establishes an understanding of the
Nigerian ethnic community.

2.3 Analysis in Half of a Yellow Sun

2.3.1 Shaping the Identity: Olanna

Olanna is a modern- Nigerian woman, from the Igbo tribe, she grew up and completed her university
in England. She left her Hausa Muslim boyfriend for Odenigbo, a full breed Igbo University lecturer
and an activist for Igbo community. “Ironically, Olanna has chosen Odenigbo for the immediate
perception of kinship and community he creates. As she recalls the scene of their first meeting, he
affirms his people in the face of the privilege granted to whites in the aftermath of colonialism”

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(Strehle, 2011, p. 662). Thus, Olanna unconsciously made this choice without knowing her deep
desires to identify herself as an Igbo.

In the novel, Odenigbo's mother represents deep rooted identity of the Igbo people, while
Odenigbo’s girlfriend- Olanna represents the British colonialist. Odenigbo’s mother perceives
Olanna as a threat to tradition, she states, "Too much schooling ruins a woman," (Adichie, 2006, p.
98). In the same way, Olanna is seen as the other as the two women fight an internal battle despite
the external Biafra war that constantly worsen the situation. Olanna’s identity is first shaped by her
experience with the Odenigbo’s mother. Hence, Olanna is made aware of her differences from the
Igbo tribe by her interaction with Odenigbo’s mother as the latter constantly points out her
unworthiness to be an Igbo and fiancé to her Son.

When Olanna is fleeing the northern Nigerian city of Kano because the Igbo are attacked by local
Hausa Muslims, she is directed by her ex-boyfriend Mohammed to “[not] raise her face” (Adichie,
2006, p.148), lest she be recognised as an Igbo. …. She places a long scarf over her head and winds it
round her neck, jokingly concluding that she “look[s] like a proper Muslim woman” (Adichie, 2006, p.
147). In this regard, Olanna still rejects her identity as Igbo.

Olanna, views her identity as something she can change in scenarios when her life is threatened.
When Olanna and her cousin Arize are surrounded by armed men at an open market in Lagos, they
are ordered to identify themselves as Igbo. As in previous examples, Olanna dismisses Igbo identity
by rapidly switching to “fluent, loud Yoruba” (Adichie, 2006, p.132). As seen in the examples above,
Olanna perceives identity as an aspect that can be changed. As with the first instance, she identifies
herself as Muslim, then a Yoruba and thereafter a Hausa. Perhaps growing up in England as an
African, she constantly had to change her identity in order to blend into her surroundings. As a
character struggling with identity and far-fetched from her origin, she is afraid of being judged and
considered as an outsider.

After the announcement of the Republic of Biafran, Olanna realizes how “Odenigbo and Baby were
moving round and round . . . singing off-key, a song he had made up –This is our beginning, oh, yes,
our beginning, oh, yes” in that moment her thoughts are diverted to “the cashew-juice stain on the
front of Baby’s dress” (Adichie, 2006, p. 162). This signifies that her attention and awareness to
internal thoughts as opposed to the news to be celebrated. In another incident, Olanna watches
Odenigbo raise his arm and shouts that “Biafra is born,” however, she does not identify herself with
the celebration of other Igbo members as they anticipate a better future. Instead, she thinks about
“how awkwardly twisted Aunty Ifeka’s arm had looked, as she lays on the ground, how her blood
had pooled so thick that it looked like glue” (Adichie, 2006, p. 163) in this scenario, her emotions are

5
set on her previous experiences in the civil war, this represents how she sees previous defeats more
than the current victory.

On yet another occasion, when Olanna and Odenigbo are part of a political rally, Olanna first
watches “Odenigbo sing [Biafra win the war] lustily, only to immediately shift her attention to a
sharp pain in her knee” (Adichie, 2006, p. 275). The shifts away from public displays of Igbo
nationalism to private experiences indicate that Olanna cannot yet imagine the formation of the
Igbo nation. In another scenario, Olanna first watches “Odenigbo sing [Biafra win the war] lustily,
only to immediately shift her attention to a sharp pain in her knee” (Adichie, 2006, p. 275), once
again this demonstrates her inability to experience the progress made by the Igbo ethnic group and
to a great extent identify herself with the whole community, this make her look like an outsider with
feelings unconnected.

Olanna’s slowly identifies herself as an agent of change during the war as she started realizing and
making peace with the current events of the war. Olanna realized, “If she had died, if Odenigbo and
Baby and Ugwu had died, the bunker would still smell like a freshly tilled farm and the sun would still
rise and the crickets would still hop around. The war would continue without them” (Adichie, 2006,
p. 280). “Olanna channeled from feelings of hopelessness and perceiving herself as a victim to a
courageous, externally aware agent to the fight of freedom. Until Biafra won, the vandals would no
longer dictate the terms of her life” (Adichie, 2006, p. 280). Likewise, she now perceives herself as an
active member of the Igbo society, a vessel of strength, persistence and warrior in her own right. Her
active involvement in communal activities such as political rallies and teaching the children about
the Biafran flag and the representation of colours on it depicts this transformation within her.

Likewise, her insight and self-focalization has changed as she joins the Igbo women in singing and
dancing for Biafra: “Olanna joined them, buoyed by the words – Who will win? Biafra will win, igba!”
(Adichie, 2006, p. 332). This proves that Olanna’s character has matured, she has removed herself
as a centre of focus, however, the narration of events as Olanna grows as a character and becomes
aware of her identity also represents the growth in strength and identity of the Igbo community.

2.2.2 Shaping the Identity: Ugwu

In Half of a Yellow Sun, Ugwu is presented as a boy without formal schooling. He is a houseboy for
Olanna’s Fiancé Odenigbo, a University professor who is passionate about politics while a full
participant of all debates around the Biafran war. Ugwu’s perception of the world is confined to

6
Odenigbo’s household, thus representing a large part of the Igbo people. As his new home intrigue
and challenge him, it equivalently represents the shock yet challenge of the Biafran Civil war on the
Igbo tribe. “Ugwu held back from reaching out to touch the cement wall, to see how different it
would feel from the mud walls of his mother’s hut” (Adichie, 2006, p. 4)

As the identity of the Igbo is shaped as the war progress, so is the character and identity of Ugwu, a
continuous development. Ugwu’s lessons from Odenigbo and preceding formal school causes him to
be ethnically self-aware unlike Olanna who chose to deny her identity to protect her life. In the
Geography class, Ugwu is taught: “This is our world, although the people who drew this map decided
to put their own land on top of ours […] our world is round, it never ends. Nee anya, this is all water,
the seas and oceans, and here’s Europe and here’s our own continent, Africa, and the Congo is the
middle. Farther up here is Nigeria, and Nsukka is here, in the south-east; this is where we are”
(Adichie, 2006, p. 10). Ugwu departs from this class with knowledge that he did not know about. He
is now aware of his origin and how he is integrated in it.

At first, Ugwu does not participate in the rallies neither the debates led by his master and friends
from the University council. However, as he is exposed to more debates and while the Biafran civil
war becomes intense, the concept of Igbo identity becomes familiar to him (Vuletic, 2018), and
likewise, he starts to actively participate in the heated debates while thinking about joining the war.
“he looked distinguished in their khaki uniforms, boots shining, Half of a Yellow Sun sewn on their
sleeves,” only to soon afterwards exclaim how he wishes he could join the Civil Defence League or
the militia” (Adichie, 2006, p.179). After joining the defence, Ugwu begins to realise the complexity
and brutality of the war. He is made to participate in a gang-rape of an Igbo girl working in a bar, he
is a witness to inexcusable violence towards Igbo civilians as well as the corruption within the army,
and has his book torn and used to roll cigarettes (Adichie, 2006 as cited in Vuletic, 2018). “When
they listened to Radio Biafra, the reader is informed, Ugwu would get up and walk away because the
shabby theatrics of the war reports, the voice that forced morsels of invented hope down people’s
throats, did not interest him” (Adichie, 2006, p.399). After his bad experiences, Ugwu does not
become alienated to his Igbo identity, in fact, he is inclined into his culture and identity and when
Richard propose to write a book on the Biafran civil war experience entitled, The World Was Silent
When We Died, Ugwu agrees that the war was never Richard's story to tell. Likewise, he withdraws
from the war as he finds a different way to express himself and his identity by writing a book,
Narrative of the Life of a Country, in this way he becomes a speaker and historian for the Igbo
people.

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 2.2.3 Shaping the Identity: Richard

Richard is a white British Journalist who leaves his wife for Kainene, Olanna’s sister. He tells Kainene,
“I've always been a loner" (Adichie, 2006, p. 62), in that way hoping to be accepted by her and the
immediate Igbo friends and the Igbo community. As he is trying to fit into the Igbo community,
Major Madu sarcastically emphasize how the “British freely move to [African] countries while having
themselves decided to control the immigration from the Commonwealth” (Adichie, 2006, p. 79).
Before the separation of Biafra from the Nigerian state, Richard begins to feel excluded from the
Igbo community, he starts learning Igbo, as a way to identity himself and hopefully connect to them.
After interacting with Major Madu for the second time, he speaks in Igbo and the former responds in
English. This depicts that Major Madu is aware of the symbolic function of language in the process of
identity formation, hence, he consciously prohibits Richard from entering and identifying himself as
Igbo (Vuletic, 2018).

Even after the separation of the Igbo tribe from Nigeria to form Biafra, Richard remains persistent in
speaking Igbo. He greets an Igbo customs officer at the airport in Kano in Igbo, the customs officer
reacts excitedly: “Eh! You speak [Igbo]! I na-asu Igbo!” (Adichie, 2006, p. 151). The man also “took
Richard’s hand in his moist one and shook it warmly and started to talk about himself” (Adichie,
2006, p. 151). Thus, after the Biafran separation, Richard’s attempts to speak Igbo allows him some
access to the Igbo community.

As Richard becomes more involved in the Igbo community, he starts to think: “It frightened him that
he slept well at night, that he was still calmed by the scent of orange leaves and the turquoise
stillness of the sea, that he was sentient” (Adichie, 2006, p. 167). Thus, he notices that he does not
experience the Biafran civil war as the Igbo community, hence, life is not the same for every person
who witnessed the genocide. “Then he felt more frightened at the thought that perhaps he had
been nothing more than a voyeur. He had not feared for his own life, so the massacres became
external, outside of him; he had watched them through the detached lens of knowing he was safe”

3. Conclusion

The aim of this paper was to apply the post-colonial theory to analyse how identity was shaped
under the Biafran War Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun. The novel portrays
Nigerian Ethnic tension after the British colonial rule. The process of Biafran succession and Igbo
rebirth is narrated and focalised through Olanna, a modern Igbo woman who grew up and received
formal education in England, Ugwu, a young man who was confined to his Igbo village until the onset

8
of colonial tension in the country and Richard, a British national and Journalist living in Nigeria. All
the characters experience the war differently and thus react to it differently.

At first, Olanna questions the Igbo tradition to the point of rejecting herself as Igbo. As the war
progress, she comes to realise her identity as an Igbo with the help of Odenigbo her fiancé. Ugwu
portrays partial awareness of his identity despite growing up in the village where the emphasis on
traditional Norms, beliefs and values are highly respected and followed. Richard is torn between two
worlds. Even though he lives amidst the war, he constantly fails to belong to the Igbo community. In
the novel, Half of a Yellow Sun by Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi, the major characters likewise identify
themselves differently within the Igbo community. Olanna often challenge formalities in the Igbo
community, Richard tries to blend in as a local, but to the natives, he remains the other while Ugwu
who ought to be strongly rooted shows limited knowledge of his identity. The Biafran war challenged
and shaped these characters’ lives to a great extent.

4. References

Achebe, Chinua. (1992). In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture. New York and
Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Adichie, C.N. (2006). Half of a Yellow Sun. New York: Knopf.

Cronje, S. (1972). The World and Nigeria: The Diplomatic History of the Biafran War 1967–1970.
London: Sidgwick.

Güven, S. (2013). Post-Colonial Analysis of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Journal of History
Culture and Art Research, 2(2). 79-87. DOI: 10.7596/taksad.v2i2.233

Jacobs, D. (1987). The Brutality of Nations. New York: Knopf.

Karambiri, S. (2002). Shaping identity under colonial systems: A comparison of African and Canadian-
Métis texts by Chinua Achebe, Maria Campbell, James Ngugi, and Beatrice Culleton.

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Lecznar, M. (2017). (Re) fashioning Biafra: identity, authorship and the politics of dress in Half of a
Yellow Sun and other narratives of the Nigeria-Biafra war. Research in African Literatures, 47
(4). pp. 112-132. ISSN 0034-5210

Muhammad, A.M. (2018). Divergent Struggles for Identity and Safeguarding Human Values: A
Postcolonial Analysis of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie‟s Half of a Yellow Sun. IRA-International
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doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.21013/jmss.v11.n2.p1

Mullaney, Julie. (2010). Post-Colonial Literature in Context. New York, United States: Continuum
International Publishing Group.

Nafziger, E. Wayne. (1983). The Economics of Political Instability: The Nigerian Biafran War. Boulder:
Westview.

O’Riley.R. (2001). Post-Colonial Literature: Contexts in Literature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge

University Press.

Roshan K, Morve. (2014). Representation of History in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow
Sun (2006). 1. 150-54.

Strehle, S. (2011). Producing Exile: Diasporic Vision in Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun. MFS Modern
Fiction Studies, 57, 650 - 672.

Shohat, E. (1992). Notes on the Post-Colonial. Social Text, 31(32), 99-113. doi:10.2307/466220

Veal, A. (2006). Research methods for leisure and Tourism, UK, Pearson.

Vuletic, S. (2018). From Colonial Disruption to Diasporic Entanglements : Narrations of Igbo Identities
in the Novels of Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Chris Abani (PhD dissertation).
Department of English, Stockholm University, Stockholm. Retrieved from
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-159971

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